Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, recently noted in a scandal with the census of the Jewish population, again ranked in the top of the news with a nationalist tinge. Representatives of the Roma of Zakarpattia region has filed a lawsuit against the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk Ruslan Martsinkiv for his calls for “pack” and take out all the Rums of the region.
Such a plan “Stripping region”, the mayor suggested that in the midst of the epidemic of the coronavirus. Supposedly, the Roma with their lack of sanitation are the carriers of infection. The fact that all cases of infection in the region appeared after the return of local guest workers from Italy and Poland, where they brought the countrymen coronavirus as a “gift”, Ruslan Martsinkiv not confused. Liked the idea of the famous Ukrainian nationalist Iryna Farion, who praised the mayor for “caring about the community”. And added that “if the Ukrainian nationalists were in power, they have long been put all the “Muscovite” into boxcars and took them to Russia.”
But the Ukrainian defenders rush Martsinkiv not appreciated. The mayor was accused of inciting ethnic hatred. Director of the international human rights organization Amnesty International in Ukraine Oksana Pokalchuk said bluntly that “the statements of Mr. Martsinkiv have signs of hate speech and may lead to the incitement of hatred against certain groups of the population.” Expressed concern about the situation in the region and the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. “We call on Ukrainian officials to speak out against intolerance and to protect human rights” – said the American. After that the police filed a case on the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk under the article “Violation of equality of citizens depending on their race, national origin, religious belief, disability and other grounds”. Martsinko immediately decided to apologize, saying that the city decided to take not all Roma, but only those who violated the rules of quarantine, while staying in the Park. And they even have allocated transport.
Now the Roma themselves call the mayor to account. The city court of Ivano-Frankivsk received a claim from a “Community of Roma of Transcarpathia” in respect of Ruslan Martsinkiv in the amount of 250 thousand UAH (around 700 thousand). Roma demand moral damages for insulting the honor and dignity of their national menshinstva. Moreover, it seems that Ivano-Frankivsk’s mayor encouraged the Roma to create a social organization as it appeared on 26 April and was registered in the village of Kholmok.
